Melody of Every Soul

The following are the things for which a person enjoys the fruits in this world, while the principal remains for them in the World-to-Come: The honoring of one’s parents, the practice of loving kindness, and the making of peace between one to another. But the study of the Torah is equal to them all. –MishnahPe’a1:1 Study is greater, for it leads to practice. –Talmud Kiddushin 40b

Have you ever had one of those moments, a peak experience, when time slows down and everything fades away? You lose track of space and time. You are in the flow. You are in the zone. You are fully present in the moment. You become one with all that is reality.

The song of the grasses

Know that each and every shepherd has their own tune.
Know that each and every grass has its own song.
And from the song of the grasses the tune of the shepherd is made.
How beautiful, how beautiful and pleasant to hear their song.
-Naomi Shemer, drawn from Reb Nachman

600,000 souls

Just as there are 600,000 letters of Torah parallel to the 600,000 souls of Israel, so too, there are 600,000 interpretations of the Torah. Every soul has a special interpretation of the Torah, which teaches a person in all their actions the mission and designated purpose in their world…The soul suckles from its interpretation of the Torah. -Slonimer Rebbe

Each and every person

Each and every person is different from the next, since the days of creation and onward. One person cannot repair what is someone else’s to repair. Each person has their own purpose and designated mission. One must repair that purpose in one’s lifetime…Each and every day — even each moment — is different from the next, as it has been since the time of creation onward. -Ha’Ari

Towards your purpose

Destroy a life, destroy a world

Humanity was first created as a single person [Adam], to teach you that anyone who destroys a life from among Israel is considered by scripture to have destroyed an entire world; anyone who saves a life is considered by scripture to have established an entire world. -Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5

Stamp of diversity

A person strikes many coins from the same mold, and all the coins are alike. But the Sovereign, the Ruler of Rulers, The Holy One [Blessed be G-d] strikes every person from the mold of the First Person, and yet no one is quite like their fellow. Therefore, each one is obligated to say, “For me the world was created.” -Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5

To reach the gates of heaven

Reb Zusya of Hanipol was once asked by his students why his teachings were different than those of his own teacher’s. He replied, “When I reach the Gates of Heaven I will not be asked why I haven’t lived my life as Abraham or as Moses, but why I didn’t live it as Reb Zusya.”

Rabbi David Benjamin Fainsilber

This website is as much about you as it is about me, my own soul’s expression offered to move us both forward together. Perhaps my life’s work reflected here in thought, music and the 10-Minute Challenge will arouse your capacity to find the melody of your own soul.

Hailing from the Great North White of Montreal, Rabbi David Fainsilber currently lives with his wife Alison and their three young children in Morrisville, Vermont. Rabbi David is known to bring great passion to creating musical, participatory prayer experiences that touch the soul; building community by opening doors for unaffiliated seekers and experienced practitioners alike; deepening ancient Jewish wisdom by renewing its application to our 21st century lives; and rallying people to act for causes that impact real people and communities. Current rabbi of the Jewish Community of Greater Stowe, Rabbi David is a Hebrew College Rabbinical School alum; a musician and writer; and former interfaith CIRCLE fellow, AJWS Kol Tzedek Fellow, and rabbinic intern for MIT and Tufts Hillels.

He is also more than slightly obsessed with Crossfit; recently has got into chopping wood; and loves wrestling with his kids.